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It’s been a hive of activity down in the Glasshouse and now the 'fantasy island of orchids' is open and will run until Sunday 21 April. Pic 1: Looking bare, before the orchids arrive Pic 2: The dead trees coming to life Pic 3: Building the volcano This year the display features, would you believe...
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The other day I stopped to talk to a visitor to the garden. She commented that she thought she'd come at the wrong time of year. The wrong time of year? Never! There is always so much to see. I told her about all the special plants and places, things to look out for, listen out for (birdsong) and...
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Hi Zoe B here. Prosthechea prismatocarpa grows in central America, in low cloud forest on large tree branches, and is found in our greenhouse in warm America. Its common name is ‘Prism-Shaped Seedpod Prosthechea’. It has long lasting, waxy, fragrant flowers.
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Hi Zoe B here. Prosthechea radiata is found in central and south America, and in our greenhouses grows in warm America. It is fragrant, heavy textured, and easy to grow with lovely cockleshell flowers. Its common name is ‘Lined Petal Prosthechea’
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Prosthechea vespa is an amazing orchid. It comes from South America, and can be found in Warm America in our greenhouse. It grows in shady areas, in humid substrates with moss and loose soil. There is also a Prosthechea vespa alba which has the same shape flower but it is plain white.
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Prosthechea bulbosa comes from central America and we grow it in Warm America. You may have noticed from the picture that it is another upside down orchid. It has many small, long lasting flowers that are very fragrant, smelling of lime.
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Hi Zoe B here . Prosthechea baculus grows in central and south America and, in our greenhouse, can be found in warm America. It has flowers quite like the Prosthechea cochleata but it only has two flower which are held back to back. This is where it gets its name. Like most Prosthecheas , it is another...
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Zoe B here. I am going to start with Prosthechea cochleata, national flower of Belize. In Warm America, in our greenhouse, at least one of this plant is in flower at any time. This orchid is unusual because its lip is at the top of the flower, not the bottom like most orchids. Some other Prosthechea...
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Originally posted to http://wsbeorchids.org.uk Our home on the net! Orchid seed is the key to everything we do at the Writhlington Orchid Project. It is from orchid seed that we get the plants that we sell to make money for our trips. It is also these seeds that will grow up to make up our collection...
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With the milder spell of weather our fabulous plants are at last exploding into leaf and flower. To celebrate we’d like to offer you all free gift wrap for any houseplant - including potted bulbs - bought on Saturday 13 th February and on Saturday 13 th March. The less sentimental amongst us may need...
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It is very snowy today and the school is closed, but the greenhouse doesnt water itself, so whatever the wether we are in school (me and Luke in the pic). All the plants are fine all snug in the greenhoues, so it gives a chance to do some work in the lab. Good luck coping with the snow. Zoe B.
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Madagascar is home to an amazing flora with about 1000 orchid species most of which occur nowhere else. At Writhlington we are very excited to be getting involved in helping in the conservation of some of these amazing plants. This photo shows Jack from Greenhouse club talking to Stuart Cable who is...
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Following the success of the Durban Conference BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservation International) have been keen to work with Writhlington pupils to help develop projects linked to botanic gardens globally. This week we had a visit from Julia Willison (head of Education at BGCI) and Lauren Evans (BGCI...
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We add a rooting hormone called NAA to our growing media. NAA is Naphthaleneacetic Acid, an auxin that acts as a growth regulator. The seedlings below show the effect of this chemical on orchids in test tubes. The left hand seedling has no NAA added. The next two show increasing NAA results in an increase...
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Here's another experiment looking at the effect of nutrient levels for orchid seedlings in-vitro. Almost all GCSE students at Writhlington design and carry out experiments on orchids in test tubes and this is just one of this year's. From left to right the nutrient level increases in steps and...
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